My Inspirational Rescue Dog – Day 40 of The Pollyanna Plan

Day 40, Reason 40: I am so thankful for my dog, Jude, who never fails to cheer me up.

Today is one of those days when the weather is wet and miserable, nothing much has happened and I’m really not feeling well. In fact, I’m feeling crappy and not very happy!

So, I was thinking long and hard about my reason to feel glad/happy/joyful when my dog, Jude, wandered in and sat down. She has this really funny way of sitting – leaning back against the sofa, back legs splayed- that never fails to make me laugh. In fact, she is a very humorous dog all round. But, she wasn’t always that way. Let me tell you her story:

I found Jude 5 years ago, when I was out walking with my lovely Golden Retriever, who has since passed away. We could hear all this commotion a little way down the road, so we headed over to see what was going on.

There, in the gutter, was a scrawny, stray, black and white puppy (probably about 6 months old) holding up a badly broken front leg and screaming in pain. She had been asleep under a car, but too ill and weak to move when it started up, and had been run over. The person driving the car hadn’t even waited around to see if she was ok.

A couple of policeman had been called to the scene, but they clearly thought they had better things to do, so had, in turn, called the dog pound to come and deal with the situation and left. There were a few people milling around and being nosey, but no one was doing anything. So, there I was, on the roadside with this poor puppy who was still screaming and clearly very distressed. Half an hour had passed, it was summer and the temperature was rising rapidly to 30 C.

I didn’t know what to do for the best, as I didn’t want to get into trouble with the police, but I discovered from an onlooker that if the puppy was taken to the pound, they would put her down. I was stroking her to try to comfort her and calm her down, when she rested her chin in my hand and looked up at me with eyes filled with sadness.

That did it! I took my Golden Retriever back home, fetched my car and raced round to rescue her. She was quite big and my car is quite small, so I had to enlist some help to get her in and I drove as fast as was legal to the vet. The puppy screamed all the way, particularly as I had to drive over bumpy, cobbled streets. It was awful!

When I arrived at the vet, I rushed in with the puppy, handed her over and proceeded to burst into tears. They found she had a very badly broken leg at the elbow joint, as well as heat exhaustion, starvation and tick fever, but no internal injuries, which was such a relief.

They began treatment for the heat exhaustion and tick fever, but were unable to operate on her leg. She would have to go to a specialist vet miles away. It was make or break time (literally), as someone had to pay for the vet bill, so I called my Mum, related the whole story and she agreed that we could keep her.

To cut a long story short, we found a vet who could perform the complicated and expensive reconstruction operation, and Jude came to live with us. She had to have pins in her leg for a month and still has a screw in her elbow to this day, but her leg healed perfectly and you would never know she had ever broken it.

In fact, you would never guess she was the same dog. She grew to twice the size, put on weight (a little too much, but don’t tell her I said so), even her fur changed completely from strange, sparse wiry hair, to luxuriant layers of thick fur. She is a true inspiration when it comes to healing!

Jude also developed a real character and has bags full of personality. She talks… no really, she does! She answers questions and argues back. She keeps a close eye on the cats to make sure they are behaving (I have nicknamed her The Cat Police) and she comes to us to tell tales (by barking) if any of our other pets are doing anything naughty.

She eats everything imaginable, whether it is really edible or not. Her stomach rules her life! She is really kind and always knows when I need a cuddle to cheer me up – she’ll come over and rest her head in my lap. She is extremely loyal and takes her guarding duties a little too seriously sometimes.

When she lies down, she crosses one paw over the other in Gangnam Style pose, so I’ve taken to calling her “sexy lady!” But best of all, she always makes me laugh! Thank you Jude! 🙂

325 days to go

325 reasons to feel glad/happy/joyful to find

£321.82 to raise for Save The Children

I am writing a blog post every day for 365 days, to find 365 reasons to feel glad/happy/joyful in a mission to improve my health and life through the power of positive, happy feelings.

If you have enjoyed reading this post, maybe you would like to sponsor me, by making a small donation to my chosen charity, Save The Children, by clicking on the link below:

£3 (that’s €3.50 or $4.50) pays for life-saving treatment for eight children with diarrhoea.

So little can do so much!

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